Walk Through Google DataCenter

Google is opening a virtual window into the secretive data centres that serve as its nerve centre. The closely guarded facilities house an intricate maze of computers that process

Data and security:

Learn more about how we keep your data safe with extensive security features both in and outside our data centers.

Designed data centers with security in mind

Security is part of our data centers’ DNA. We build custom servers exclusively for our data centers, never selling or distributing them externally. We’ve also designed them so they don’t include unnecessary hardware or software—reducing the number of potential vulnerabilities. We also have robust disaster recovery measures in place. For example, in the event of a fire or any other disruption, we shift data access automatically and seamlessly to another data center so that our users can keep working, uninterrupted. Our emergency backup generators continue to power our data centers even in the event of a power failure.

Safeguard data

Rather than storing each user’s data on a single machine or set of machines, we distribute all data—including our own—across many computers in different locations. We then chunk and replicate the data over multiple systems to avoid a single point of failure. We randomly name these data chunks as an extra measure of security, making them unreadable to the human eye. While you work, our servers automatically back up your critical data. So when accidents happen—if your computer crashes or gets stolen—you can be up and running again in seconds. Lastly, we rigorously track the location and status of each hard drive in our data centers. We destroy hard drives that have reached the end of their lives in a thorough, multi-step process to prevent access to the data.